Graduate Programs - The American University of Paris

With great pride we congratulate the Class of 2026. 🎓

Here are some of our favorite moments from the day. 👇

Introducing Lava Zine, a feminist beauty zine and the brainchild of AUP's own Julia Morgan.

For her Applied Capstone Project, Julia took on the roles of Founder, Editor-in-Chief, and Creative Director, curating a collection of art, writing, and personal stories from over 45 contributors. The goal? To pull back the curtain on beauty rituals, self-perception, and the "glossy" distortions of media today.

Her project acts as a bridge between the theory she learned in her global communications courses and real-world impact.

In her words:
"Analyzing how women's identities are shaped and influenced by the men behind publications like Vogue served as a starting point for me to explore how a zine could challenge traditional beauty standards... It was a beautiful marriage between my theoretical knowledge and practical skills."

Check out the final project: https://www.graphicsbyjulia.com/lava-zine-1

Grad students and alum, mark your calendars for next Tuesday, February 10! We’re bringing together the best of AUP’s past and present for a Graduate Programs networking cocktail.

Whether you’re looking to find a mentor, trade "real world" industry stories, or just enjoy a glass of wine with your favorite professors and fellow students, we’ve got a spot saved for you. 🍷

Current students, RSVP on Engage: https://aup.campuslabs.com/engage/event/11797590
Alumni, RSVP on Global: https://global.aup.edu/networks/events/194162

We hope to see you there!

After 20 years with the CDC, Dr. Renée Funk came to AUP to deepen her understanding of international systems and shift into a more global health practice. With the MA in International Affairs and support from the Slosberg Travel Grant, she spent months in Ethiopia doing field research with pastoralist communities facing prolonged drought.

Throughout the project, Dr. Funk applied two major theoretical frameworks: the livelihood adaptation model, widely used in international development, and the One Health framework, which emphasizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health.

“Pastoralism is inherently One Health,” she explains. “You cannot separate the health of the people from the health of their animals or the environment they depend on.”

Her work relied on interviews, focus groups, and time in the field. Not hypotheticals. Not simulations. Real people, real decisions, real impact.

AUP gives students the tools, support, and space to take their research into the world. Where could your work take you?

Read more about Renée's research here: https://www.aup.edu/news-events/news/2026-01-27/fieldwork-master%E2%80%99s-program-dr-ren%C3%A9e-funk%E2%80%99s-research-journey

Happy holidays from the 7th arrondissement. Sending winter wishes to our AUP graduate community. ❄️

The last day of classes marks the culmination of a semester full of inquiry, collaboration, and discovery. What a semester! Best of luck to our grad students as you move into finals. 📚

On November 4, AUP welcomed award-winning author Lauren Elkin (currently a guest lecturer for our MFA in Creative Writing) for the first public reading of her upcoming book, "Vocal Break: On Women, Music, and Power." Her work explores how societies understand women’s voices, from chest voice to falsetto, and the cultural meaning behind these “vocal breaks.”

The reading and discussion highlighted how Elkin’s own relationship with music mirrors some of the book’s themes. She joked that after translating Simone de Beauvoir, people might be surprised she’s now studying pop stars, and she emphasized the value of embracing complexity: “I’m very interested in voices and how people use them to hide… especially in academia.”

Students and faculty left inspired, reminded that writing, like music, has many registers, and hybrid forms can be as nuanced and moving as any solo performance.

Read more: https://graduate.aup.edu/news/lauren-elkin-author-vocal-break-finding-her-literary-voice

From Marie Antoinette’s style to Marguerite Duras’ The Lover, from Samuel Beckett to Parisian literary salons, Alice Blackhurst brought an entire constellation of ideas to AUP as our 2025 Paris Writer in Residence.

Her month in Paris was anything but linear. After kicking things off with “Uncanny Intimacies,” a conversation with Professor Russell Williams, she found her projects shifting in response to the city. “You have a plan when you start a residency, and it almost never entirely corresponds to what happens,” she said. “Paris is such a porous, dynamic and lively place. It has to be a key protagonist.” Much of what she wrote grew out of these unplanned moments and encounters.

Before wrapping up, Alice sat down with MFA student Brendan Dentino to talk about everything from the Anglophone–Francophone literary tradition to the reality of juggling multiple projects.

Read their full conversation here: https://www.aup.edu/news-events/news/2025-10-29/conversation-alice-blackhurst-and-brendan-dentino

We’re thrilled to share that Professors Susan Perry and Claudia Roda, co-directors of AUP’s UNESCO Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, have been named inaugural laureates of the UNESCO–Uzbekistan Beruniy Prize for Scientific Research on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

Awarded during UNESCO’s General Conference on November 6 in Samarkand, this international distinction recognizes their innovative, youth-centered approach to AI ethics, which brings together computer science, human rights law, and social inclusion to advance equitable and responsible technology.

We extend our warmest congratulations to Professors Perry and Roda, and to their fellow laureates Professor Virgílio Augusto Fernandes de Almeida and the Institute for AI International Governance at Tsinghua University.